Fallen Queen

Chapter 27 - Present

Amelia swallowed while her feet touched the cobbles. All her muscles hurt and she bit her lip at every step. She couldn't show that something was different. She couldn't show that she was up to something. She couldn't let anyone notice that things were not normal anymore, that things had started to change. So she kept on dancing, despite her feet screaming, despite her arms protesting, despite every part of her body hurting.

"Maybe we shouldn't train this much." Thomas spoke in the back of her mind. He was breathing faster than normally. His glance could barely focus. He noticed people staring at them. And he constantly wondered if they were staring because they were on their side or because they were asking themselves why they wouldn't betray the girl and her mask.

"Can you stop sending those depressive thoughts to me?" Amelia hissed between her teeth while she took a short moment to catch her breath. She had noticed the faces too, but she liked to believe that once the people knew the real story, once they knew that Thomas wanted to save them, wanted to free them, they would all pick their side. She had to believe that. If she wouldn't allow herself to believe in a bright future, where no one would betray them and where they would eventually end up on the throne again, she would fall apart into a thousand pieces.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Thomas' voice was a soft whisper now.

Amelia took a few deep breaths and she started to move her feet again. She opened her mouth to sing and her hands, despite the pain in her wrists, played on the instrument she was holding. She hated the tambourine. She hated her bare feet on the dirty pavement. She hated the fear that raced through her veins and most of all she hated not knowing whether it was just Thomas' or hers too.

"Amelia..." Brant looked over his shoulder while he walked towards her. He bent slightly, almost invisible for the public eye and his glance met Amelia's eyes, hidden behind the mask. "The tyrant is doubling the guards on the market square." He spoke softly and looked over his shoulder once more. "My brother told me that if I train more I might become one of them."

"Do we trust him?" Thomas reacted before Amelia could say something. "We could use an extra pair of eyes on the inside. We could for sure use an extra pair of eyes on our side."

"I trust him." Amelia nodded at the young soldier. "Do you dare to take that chance?" She spoke softly too.

"I do." Brant bent his head again. "My brother thinks I'm on his side. He's loyal. He's been fighting along with them five years ago and I'm sure no one will doubt him and therefore no one will doubt me."

"Good..." Amelia answered. "Does he know that you've been talking to me?" Amelia looked around once more. She noticed some people staring at them, she noticed their wary eyes and their wondering glances. "They might think something is wrong."

"They don't." Brant shook his head. "I've talked about our meetings with my brother." Brant cleared his throat and he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

"What did you tell him?" Amelia stopped breathing and her heart starting racing in her chest. "What did he say? What does he think? Does he suspect that the King is still here?" She hissed between her teeth and Thomas had gone completely silent in the back of her mind.

"I told him part of the story everyone in town seems to believe." Brant spoke softly. "I told him that you start to fear that Thomas will never come back and that you are afraid what will happen to you. I told him that you barely have something to eat and that no one wants to sell you anything good." He paused for a moment. "I told him that you are afraid to die."

"And?" Amelia could hear her heart beating in her own ears. "What did he answer?"

"He said that he felt sorry for you." Brant bit his lip. "He felt sorry for the girl who couldn't do anything but being pretty and singing and dancing. All those skills who are useless in his eyes." He looked at Amelia. "He also told me that maybe the tyrant would enjoy the idea of the former fiancée of our King entertaining him."

"No." Thomas interrupted the young soldier firmly, even though Brant couldn't hear it. "You're not accepting that offer. You're not going into that castle. Not even with me to protect you. You're not going to dance for a tyrant. You're not going to amuse the man who killed my father and who killed your parents."

"Thomas..." Amelia whispered out loud so Brant could hear her. "It's an amazing chance, a great opportunity." She swallowed a few times. Yes, she was afraid. She was afraid of what the tyrant wanted to do. She was afraid of the power he had. She was afraid that something would go wrong. "I will be able to look around. We will know how many guards he still has. We will know where he is. And he won't even know that you will know it too." She could barely hide her excitement.

"Don't tell anyone that you know this. My brother still needs to ask it. There is still a chance it doesn't work out and maybe the tyrant does think it's a trick." Brant stepped back and took his purse. "My brother also gave me this." He threw a golden coin in Amelia's small black box. "No one can refuse it. It has the head of our tyrant on it. They will give you everything you're longing for."

"Thank you..." Amelia spoke softly and she bent down to take the coin. She stared at the face on it and her stomach turned around while the sickness almost made her puke. "For everything you're doing and for everything you're risking and for picking the side against your brother."

"I hope that maybe in the end he will join us." Brant closed his eyes for a moment. "But if he doesn't, I will protect you with my life, even against him."

Amelia curled her lips up into a smile and she nodded at the young boy. "I can't imagine how hard this must be."

"I do it for Thomas, I do it for you, I do it for me and for all the people suffering because of that monster ruling our kingdom right now." He looked over his shoulder once more. "I pledge my loyalty to Thomas Hargreave and no one else." He bent his head once more before he turned around and walked away.